12.04.2018, 15:05 clock
The fight between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull is becoming increasingly brutal. He does not only take place in the aerodynamic offices. The top three teams struggle for hundredths of a second in each discipline, and sometimes a seemingly small change can make a big difference. We'll show you three areas where the top teams in front of and behind the scenes are in high spirits. And almost always it's Ferrari who dare to go to the limit. That too is one of the reasons why the red cars are fully in the title race.

Normally the aerodynamic arms race makes the difference. But in the first three races you have seen only marginally new parts on the Mercedes F1W09, the Ferrari SF71H and the Red Bull RB14. Other things gave and decide why Ferrari is better than expected, Mercedes is not quite as good, and why Red Bull still can not play the qualities of his car like this. We have selected three examples:

Mercedes has a luxury problem there. Pretty much downforce in the rear. This makes the rear tires strong and warms them from the inside. In addition there were difficulties to balance the cars perfectly for one lap. "We bring them great in the curves and not so good back out. It looks like the two ends of the car do not want to fit together, "Niki Lauda complained. The rough asphalt of Bahrain was an additional stress factor.

In the race the problem was gone. "Over several laps the temperatures stabilize. They are easier to hold in the window, "say the engineers. Mercedes knew since the winter test rides that the rear tires on certain routes could become a problem child. That's why Pirelli was brought to the attention, naturally with the ulterior motive that the tire manufacturer responds. What did he do?

For the races in Barcelona, ​​Paul Ricard and Silverstone, the tread is reduced by 0.4 millimeters. Because there was not the necessary support from the other teams, the FIA ​​stepped in with the security argument.

Of course, Mercedes would like Pirelli to extend the measure to all routes. Because every detail counts in the three-way battle with Ferrari and Red Bull. "If you really want to have two stops to improve your race, you have to go this way. With the current tires, we will have one-way races almost everywhere ", Mercedes builds an argumentation bridge for Pirelli.

Force India technical director Andy Green shoots immediately: "If Pirelli wants to make the gap between the top teams and the rest even bigger, they should do that. A thinner tread always helps those who have more downforce. Because then the rubber works less and heats less. "

So far it is not clear who is affected. Renault seems to hit hardest. The Renault drivers had in Melbourne even after seven laps under safety-car conditions to take the foot off the gas. In Bahrain even Honda made a better figure. Ferrari operated in Bahrain more lift and coast than Mercedes. However, an engineer from the silver camp warns: "We drove there most of the time in the slipstream. This helps."

Mercedes has another problem, you can hear under the hand. The cars with Mercedes engines are not as fast on the straights as they should be. This has supposedly to do with the oil specification. We hear that Petronas dug up a 2016 oil grade to be on the safe side with oil consumption. Until the beginning of the season, the oil consumption of Mercedes and Ferrari was only 0.01 liters below the permitted limit of 0.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

After the oil correction, Mercedes should be on the safe side when it comes to oil consumption. But that also costs power. Ferrari is apparently still full risk just below the pain threshold. And it benefits relative to the competition. No wonder that Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell says: "In qualifying Ferrari and we are on par." So far, this was the domain of the Mercedes engine.

The oil theme could boil up soon. The opponents of Ferrari are trying to find out why the Ferrari engine in the factory car smokes so much when starting. And even when driving smokes more than the other Ferrari teams. Should not all engines of a manufacturer be the same this year?

Some suspect some trick behind that will allow Ferrari to add oil to the combustion process. Meanwhile, it is also known how the oil tricksters have practiced in the past. A gasket in the compressor of the turbocharger was carefully constructed "leaking" so that a pre-calculated amount of oil could enter the combustion chamber.

In Bahrain, Mercedes spotters have heard that the Ferrari engine in the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen when accelerating significantly changes the pitch. Also in comparison to the customer teams HaasF1 and Sauber.

The resolution of the puzzle was not long in coming. Ferrari refrains in the qualifying rounds when Rausbeschleunigen on it with the MGU-H produce electricity to blow it over the wastegate valve to the rear wing. That makes a few points down, but better than nothing. In the qualifying rounds, the refusal to charge the battery does not bother, because it is already full at the beginning of the round.

Battery is a bad word for Red Bull. The first of two by Daniel Ricciardo is a case for the hazardous waste. Same damage as Max Verstappen last year in Montreal and winter testing. Ricciardo can figure out when he will receive a penalty for the first time. And that can not be offset with a few hundredths of the aerodynamics or the engine. Lewis Hamilton has already lost the GP Bahrain in the gear change.https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... d-haerter/